The Reformed Church in America has been ordaining women for more than thirty years. On Monday the church’s governing body will consider dropping rules that outline ways people can conscientiously object during the process of ordaining women ministers.

The compromise, once struck to maintain unity within the church, may be causing more division now.

The Reformed Church in America has a large membership base in Michigan. The RCA has some administrative offices in Grand Rapids. Hope College in Holland is affiliated with the RCA, as is the Western Theological Seminary.

Christina Tazelaar is a writer and editor with RCA Today magazine. She says the proposed rule change comes in response to a survey of women ministers in the church.

"Women reported better support, fewer obstacles to their ministry than they experienced thirty years ago when were first ordaining women,” Tazelaar said of the survey, “But at the same time 24 percent reported that when they were being ordained they experienced some obstacle or setback as a result of inappropriate uses of the conscience clauses."

"People can choose not to participate in the ordination process or the examination of a candidate for ministry for example, but they can’t obstruct the process unduly,” Tazelaar said.

The survey commissioned by a committee of the General Synod says “parts of the RCA disagree about a women’s role in the leadership and offices of the church.” Yet, it goes on to say “some women reported no sense at all that they had been held back or discriminated against during their candidacy or ministry.”

"Increasingly, women are able to respond freely to God’s call to fully participate in the life and ministry of the church, and the commission celebrates that growing reality. However, a significant portion of women clergy still experiences instances of exclusion, inequality, and pain. Women are still required to defend their calling and their ordination in the assemblies of the RCA, including on the floor of General Synod, in a way that their male colleagues are not."

The commission reports the clauses show an “institutionalize lack of support at best” and are a “deterrent from ministry at worst.”

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I was a teenager back when Mitt Romney’s father, George, was governor of Michigan, and made his own run for the Republican Presidential nomination. I was already fascinated by politics, and followed that race closely. And here’s something you may find interesting. Back in nineteen-sixty-eight, nobody seemed to care that George Romney was a Mormon. Now, his formal campaign didn’t last very long. He dropped out of the race at the end of February.

A national nonprofit group for atheists and agnostics wants to display a sandwich board with an anti-religion message inside Warren City Hall. A nativity scene erected by the Warren Rotary Club is on display in Warren City Hall, something the "Freedom From Religion Coalition" takes issue with.

On one side, the group's sign reads:

"At this season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

On the other, it reads:

"Keep State & Church Separate."

The Macomb Daily News reports the group has tried to put the sign up in past years:

For the second consecutive year, the Freedom From Religion Coalition has taken exception to the crèche located in the atrium of the municipal building, saying other viewpoints on religion should be permitted. According to a Fox 2 Detroit (WJBK-TV) report, the group has threatened legal action against the city...

According to the Freedom From Religion Coalition's website, their "demand letter to Mayor James R. Fouts, of Warren, Michigan, gave him until 10 a.m. today to agree to place their “equal time Winter Solstice sign" in the atrium of Warren City Hall.

Mayor James Fouts sent a letter to the group saying he would not allow their sign to be displayed because the sign is "antagonistic toward all religions and would serve no purpose during this holiday season except to provoke controversy and hostility among visitors and employees at city hall."

Fouts says he's allowed displays in city hall celebrating Ramadan, a month-long Muslim holiday, but could not support the Coalition's sign because "your non-religion is not a recognized religion."

From Fouts' letter:

If you requested permission to put up a sandwich board saying that there is no Santa Claus, you would be met with the same response. Santa Claus lives in the minds and hearts of many millions of children. The belief of God and religion lives in the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of people and is as much a part of the fabric of America, as the belief in democracy and freedom.

Attorney Danielle Hessell of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan is representing the Freedom From Religion Coalition in the dispute. Hessell says the group is planning to sue.

“To date, the mayor has engaged in flagrant viewpoint censorship. As the city’s top government official, he has created a public forum for religion and only for religion. We hope reason will prevail, but if he does not permit our member to place the Winter Solstice display in the atrium tomorrow, we are planning to sue Mr. Fouts in federal court.”

State lawmakers heard testimony today on legislation that would protect college students whose religious beliefs conflict with their university’s curriculum. There are concerns the bill might cause problems for university accreditation.

2010 Muslims in MichiganThe Muslims in Michigan project was formed out a partnership between Michigan Radio and the University of Michigan Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies. This five part radio series examines life for Muslim people living in Michigan. Beyond religion, the series explores the cultural, political, ethnic, and social lives of this diverse group. This project also features film events, speakers, and a community conversation.